The art of merchandising machines is becoming increasingly complex in that a greater variety of articles are being sold at prices covering a much wider range than has heretofore been done. For example, in some merchandising machines as many as forty different selections are afforded and the selections may be sold over a range of prices from $.05 to $3.15 in five cent increments. The price of a particular article in such a machine may be digitally set by closing selected ones of a number of switches which respectively correspond to five cents, ten cents, twenty cents, forty cents, eighty cents and a $1.60. However, in order to afford the desired number of selections each of which may sell at a different price, forty groups of six switches each or 240 switches must be provided. It will readily be appreciated that to accommodate such a great number of switches in common use would require an inordinate amount of space.
Especially adapted for the solution of the problem outlined above is the dual in-line package of switches [DIP] which is an assembly of, for example, six miniature switches with which there are associated six miniature closely spaced switch actuating elements such as toggle elements. These elements are selectively manually moved to one of two positions either to make or not make connections between respective associated pairs of output conductors of the package. In use of these DIP switches each package of, for example, six switches is mounted on a circuit board with the pairs of output conductors thereof extending through holes in the board and with the toggle elements accessable from the top of the board. With a number of these packages assembled on the board corresponding in number to the number of selections provided the elements of each assembly must be actuated to set the switch for the price at which the corresponding selection is to be sold. Owing to the miniature size of operating elements even where legends are provided and persons having acute vision are employed to set the prices, setting of the switches is extremely difficult. Often it is done by use of the point of a pen or pencil which may obliterate legends which have been applied to the package. This problem is compounded by the fact that price changes of the articles sold in the machine are not infrequent so that it often becomes necessary to change the switch settings. It will readily be appreciated that setting up of a machine having forty selections by use of the DIP switches described above is a tedious and time consuming operation.